The student news site of Portola High School

Portola Pilot
The student news site of Portola High School

Portola Pilot
The student news site of Portola High School

Portola Pilot
Sophomore Mateo Allen-Aguirre gets ready for a speed workout by running 50 meter strides and doing drills to warm up his body. “My aspiration is mainly to see how hard I can push myself both mentally and physically to attain a level of commitment that is uncommon,” Allen-Aguirre said.

Sophomore Mateo Allen-Aguirre Races to New School Records in Track

Aditi Salunkhe | April 28, 2023

With adrenaline coursing through his veins, sophomore Mateo Allen-Aguirre sprints down the last 100 meter stretch of the track, passing two other runners to win the 1600 meter race. As he collapses on...

Co-captain and senior Rishi Vridhachalam exhales after landing a skillful backhand swing. Boys’ tennis went on to defeat Northwood High 12-8 during its April 18 home match at the tennis courts. The team’s current league standings are 9-5.

Boys’ Tennis Celebrates Hard-Fought Victory against Northwood High

Jana Malek and Michael Sun | April 27, 2023

Freshman Kyson Lu holds up a prototype Motorola phone, a product that was never released in the public market. As networks designed to support vintage phones begin to shut down, Lu said that many of his vintage phones have stopped working, but his passion for collecting remains ongoing.

This Freshman Owns Over 120 Retro Phones

Arnav Chandan, Maya Tedini, and Camille Clement | April 26, 2023

Brring. Brring. Phones ring in the distance as freshman Kyson Lu follows the sound. Instead of picking up a modern smartphone, Lu reaches for a retro, prototype Motorola phone. The piece is sturdy and...

Performance-based assessment tasks are more holistic and effective than SBAC tests, which present a snapshot of student education and is meant to assess areas of improvement, but student proficiency has stayed the same in recent years.

SBAC Remains Fruitless Toward California Education

Elise Ngo, Social Media Team | April 26, 2023

Every student in California is familiar with the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) standardized exams but may not know where the test data goes or how it affects them.   While it serves...

Junior variety swimmers and juniors Justin Hahn and Cody Le dive off into the boys’ 200 individual medley. In the week prior to this meet, the swim team underwent a specialized training regime known as taper, according to swim captain and senior Kiana Fan. During this time, swimmers endured particularly grueling and physically demanding practices, so many entered the meet physically tired.

Swim Prepares to ‘Fly’ into PCL Finals After Historic Win Against Northwood High

Skyller Liu | April 25, 2023

Making swim team history, boys’ swim (4-3) and girls’ swim (5-2) won against Northwood High with a point total of 552-433 in a home meet on April 11. With Northwood High being Portola High’s...

The United States’ level of civil discourse is declining rapidly, according to the American Psychological Association. Furthermore, nearly 60 percent of Americans feel stressed because of social divisiveness. The above infographic provides some tips for conducting productive, civil discourse.

Friends Who Hold Different Viewpoints Encourage Us to Collaborate

Michael Sun, Staff Writer | April 24, 2023

Can people be friends with those who hold different opinions? The short answer is yes. The long answer is harder to parse.  Not all opinions are made equal, and some are valued more than others....

(From top to bottom) National History Day OC coordinator Julie Hull, juniors Vismaya Sista, Rachel Kim, Bernice Hung, social studies teacher Wind Ralston, juniors Tyler Kim, Brian Kim and Ian Yoon celebrate their historic win at the regional competition. This marks a record number of entries to qualify for the state level in the club’s history, according to Sista.

National History Day Club Advances to Nationals After Competing at State Level

Aditi Salunkhe, Staff Writer | April 21, 2023

Juniors Bernice Hung, Brian Kim, Tyler Kim, Rachel Kim, Vismaya Sista and Ian Yoon from the National History Day club competed at the state competition on April 14-16 at Sacramento State University. Rachel...

Though slandered by a critic score of 53% on Rotten Tomatoes, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” manages to incorporate notes of tasteful humor authentic to the series’ 36 years of history.

‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Levels Up the 36-Year-Old Franchise

Tyler Kim and Skyller Liu | April 19, 2023

Mario and Luigi come to life in the vibrant, imaginative and breathtaking animated box office debut of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”  After decades of Goomba stomping and shell smashing, Mario...

The use of lip-synching in concerts is a hotly-contested topic by many people, with some arguing for its continuation due to the aid it provides artists’ health and others staunchly opposing it due to its inauthenticity.

H2H: To Synch or Not to Synch

April 18, 2023

There has been a drastic decrease in reading for teenagers since the 2010’s. “I think a lot of times right now, the way that our brains are wired with social media and the way that we use our phones,” Misenhimer said. “We scroll just really quick and skim and just move through things really fast. It's really hard for our brains right now and for ourselves to sit down and focus on a book for a long period of time.”

Portola Student and Teacher Hatch the Love for Reading

Shaina Taebi and Elizabeth Gao | April 17, 2023

The smell of fresh ink, the warmth of raw printed paper and the cracking open of the spine of a new book: It’s a dream for any avid reader. Getting curled up and enjoying a new book is not a novel...

Junior Gabriel Mutsvangwa, junior Kate Niho, junior Taisho Shiono, freshman Jamie Youn, freshman Kesin Jayakumar, junior Michael Shen, sophomore Zoe Wynn, sophomore Arden Sundaram, junior Madison Curran and junior Emmett Lo take a group photo after winning ASB elected positions 2023-24. “I'm really proud that we take these elections seriously because I think it allows us to have a really solid group of people in ASB,” ASB and activities co-director Emily Sheridan said.

Portola High ASB Hosts its Fourth Annual Election Convention

Maitri Allani, Photo Editor | April 14, 2023

ASB hosted its annual election convention on March 31 during the school day in the theater to determine the elected ASB positions for the 2023-24 school year.  Junior Arjit Singh: ASB president ...

Fears that time is running out and the environment will collapse in the near future has spurred feelings of helplessness and desperation among young individuals. “I think there should be a lot more to be done to educate citizens on how you can take action in ways such as making public comments at city council meetings and just getting to know your representatives in general,” animal and environmental protection club president and senior Katherine Chang said.

Eco-anxiety Is a Step Forward to Saving the Environment

Jana Malek and Mary Lee | April 13, 2023

Unprecedented snowfall in California and wildfires ravaging communities. As storms and droughts have reached extreme levels, global warming’s impact on natural disasters has become a focus of discussion...

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